Make Believe Mailer Vol. 73: J-pop Goes Imperial
Huh, about three weeks without doing this...whoops! Let's get back on track....
The Japanese music industry often gets tagged as old fashioned. Among the many reasons this label gets tossed around, the actual music released by top-level artists can often feel conservative. If something sells, why mess with success? Entire bands have gone decades without barely changing anything aside from the album art on whatever comes out next.
This doesn't have to be the norm, though. The history of J-pop has featured plenty of moments seeing superstars -- having established their credentials -- deliver wild full-lengths that would never get the green light from a new name. See Hikaru Utada's releases in the early 2000s, or Sheena Ringo's stunning Kalk Samen Kuri no Hana. I like a term that gets used frequently on Slate's Hit Parade podcast to describe this -- these artists tend to be enjoying their imperial periods, able to get away with whatever they want and stay in the spotlight.
Over the last six months, a handful of prominent J-pop artists have leaned in to their own imperial periods, to plenty of attention domestically.
Few moves scream "ambitious undertaking!" like a double album. Sekai No Owari planned to release three albums this year, though that English-language one appears to be sitting in purgatory. Still, the quartet released a pair of albums, Eye and Lip, in late February, a move that's both savvy (two albums = double sales) but also flexes their ability to do whatever they want. They didn't put out any full-lengths over the last four years, so this one gathers a bunch of stuff they recorded over that stretch, itself kind of a bold move. Interestingly, Lip is presented as a more classically Sekai No Owari album (read: featuring lots of plodding songs) while Eye gets a bit crazier for the group. That mostly holds up, though both releases feature plenty of departures from the group.
You'd think a group who broke through with an Auto-tune-soaked number stuffed with marching bands and choruses couldn't veer into left field, but Sekai No Owari just go all over the place over these two albums (kinda like that Vampire Weekend album that just came out). They work in plenty of sparse piano ballads and sub-Lumineers folk pop, but they also create pounding electro-pop adjective exercises and robo-blues on "Yokohama Blues." The biggest twists -- and best songs -- come when the band indulge an interest in acid house music, featuring songs anchored by big squiggly freakouts. It's all over the place and many experiments fall flat (kinda like that Vampire Weekend album that just came out), but the audacity deserves respect.
They aren't alone in expanding their sonic horizons, for better or for worse. Hoshino Gen could have cruised just making drama theme songs, but his Pop Virus album finds him getting really into MPC drum machines, with two of the songs released closest to that collections drop date leaning on electronic artist STUTS as muse. Both Gen and Sekai No Owari have been climbing up J-pop's mountain for years, finally hitting the peak and letting some of their less radio-ready ideas come over.
Suchmos, meanwhile, probably should have held off on releasing The Anymal until like 2022. Here they mostly abandon the smooth Jamiroquai-isms that made them big (though, I see you "Why") in favor of sludge. "In The Zoo" lasts over eight minutes and nearly every second feels submerged under water. Two songs here go longer and somehow unfold slower. This is Suchmos going classic rock, and making it difficult for anyone charmed by "Stay Tune." A few highlights emerge -- despite the name and its desire to be a Lennon piano soarer, "Here Comes The Six-Pointer" somehow nails it -- but it's a mess. Yet it's at least a charming mess, considering it comes from a corner of Japanese music mostly occupied by bands serving as Life Is Good t-shirts made human. People are going to fill Yokohama Stadium and listen to this...what the fuck!
All three of these major releases are far from being really good, but they offer a lot of unexpected experimentation from J-pop and J-pop-adjacent performers who seem bored by the heights they've reached, ready to shake it up. Yet again...I wouldn't really recommend listening to them in full if you have only a slight interest in top-level Japanese music industry happenings. These are noble experiments, but still ultimately uneven albums that actually get too much attention given the quality of the music within. They also hog attention away from releases that are every bit as unexpected from acts caught in J-pop's middle class.
Yakushima Treasure is probably fated to be a curio in Suiyoubi No Campanella's discography, but this represents that projects strangest detour to date. Nobody really talked about this early April release, and I get it to a degree. It sorta isn't a Suiyoubi No Campanella release -- rather, KOM_I works exclusively with Osaka oddball (and...fun fact!...the first person I ever interviewed for The Japan Times) Oorutaichi rather than her usual team. It also kind of only exists as a result of YouTube premium content. Even in the commercial-dictated world of J-pop, that's kind of a stretch (though, hey, she at least made music, Sekai No Owari made a comic book).
But it's really good, and a total surprise from the project! Songs here lean closer to being incantations, drawing from traditional Japanese music while also weaving in modern touches. "Vessel Unbound" captures KOM_I singing a folk-song-like number, but like it was recorded in 1873...through a wall. Other numbers approach near ambience. If you pine for a timeline where FAMM'N's "Circle" became a hit and inspired more intersection between pop and court music, well this one's for you (or if that Meitei album lots of people went gaga over sounded intriguing on paper but kind fizzled for you on actual listen).
It's interesting that big-name groups in Japan are getting adventerous, but this alone shouldn't overshadow the results being mostly sub-par. Still important to dig a little deeper -- even if it's, like, to B-plus zones -- and give equal love to the stuff getting weird and delivering.
News And Views
A lot happened during our accidental hiatus, but I do think the most charming development was Johnny & Associates opening up their own online store. Welcome to 1999, Johnny's! Seeing as this is Johnny's, this digital store has closing hours. Getting closer, guys.
The Recording Industry Association of Japan shared their annual report on the industry, which you can check out in English here. I shared some thoughts over at Otaquest while Ronald had some great views for Arama, with the big development coming out from this being picked up by media is how less CDs are being produced. Another reminder that the industry is moving towards digital, though still going to take some time.
Keeping track of the Maho Yamaguchi scandal has been tough, because a lot has happened in the past few weeks. AKS filed a lawsuit against the two men who attacked the idol. This all missed Akimoto Yasushi's desk, but maybe because he's not actually part of the company anymore but rather some kind of consultant? I missed that. Yamaguchi held her last handshake event before graduation, and she has adopted a more positive energy about it (some fans speculate she's now trying to move on).
Misako Suzuki of idol outfit Band Ja Naimon! MAXX NAKAYOSHI (gahhhhhhhhhhh dumb name) and drummer for Shinsei Kamattechan wrote an essay for Natalie touching on the topic of idols getting married, which got newfound attention after Negicco's Nao announced her plans to get married and continue on performing. Interesting seeing idols being vocal about this, which is good!
Real Sound has an interesting essay by Azusa Suga (For Tracy Hyde) on the rise of female vocalists uploading their own animated videos to YouTube, and how this is probably going to be a trend moving forward.
Great feature from Resident Advisor about the surge in Japanese reissues.
J-pop picking up steam on Tunecore.
KISS...don't you dare sue Rilakkuma....
Oricon Trail For The Week Of April 29, 2019 To May 5, 2019
At long last, the new all-forms-counted method Oricon adopted this year results in something interesting! Sure, the Golden Week holiday might have some impact on this, but compare the weekly physical sale singles chart with the one factoring in other forms and you get -- well, Hinatazaka46's perfectly fine debut single, which may or may not be biting a Koda Kumi song. It's the runner up numbers, though, worth looking at. The traditional sales metrics favor some real idol-y idol music, but the one counting this thing called the internet places two Aimyon singles -- including "Marigold," out for nearly a year now! -- ahead of it. No artist is benefitting from the shift to digital more than Aimyon, and here is a sign, as she easily breezes past new releases when her streaming (and YouTube) plays get counted.
Look At Me!
Talked to Night Tempo about remixing Wink (officially) and future funk for The Japan Times.
Wrote about some Heisei music lessons folks should learn from moving forward.
Other Japan Times stories from this week: Golden Week digital talk for Pulse, bubble tea and blood in the snow.
For Newspicks series on Generation Z, I tried to unpack that generation in the U.S. by zooming in on Billie Eilish and, like, Burger King's depressed tweets. In Japanese!
Blog highlights: Kyary Pamyu Pamyu (possibly independent now? Stay tuned), samuragosha, Tohji.
My entry in the 33 1/3 series is still out there! Get it at Amazon or Bloomsbury.
Written by Patrick St. Michel (patrickstmichel@gmail.com)
Make Believe Melodies / Twitter / Facebook